West Hartford, CT - The University of Hartford volleyball team dropped a three-game (25-30, 19-30, 21-30) match to UMBC in America East action on Saturday afternoon. The Hawks are now 7-13 overall and 0-3 in conference play, while UMBC improves to 17-5 overall and 3-1 in America East action.
The Hawks were led by Erin Macro, who was the only Hartford player to finish with double digit kills. She had 10 kills and five errors in 22 total attacks for a hitting percentage of .227. The match was the third-straight for Macro to finish in double digits. The Hawks struggled from the floor in the match, hitting just .017 (32 kills, 30 errors, 115 total attacks). Hartford finished the first game hitting in the position but finished with zero percentages in games two and three.
Also hitting well for Hartford was Jennifer Monroy who finished with nine kills and Katie O'Hara who finished with seven. Lindsay Ford was the Hawks floor marshal, recording 24 assists on 32 total kills. Sarah Rasor finished with four assists for Hartford. Defensively, the Hawks were led by Monroy, who finished with 11 digs. Hallie Fullagar added nine digs, while Rasor added eight and Lauren Flores added seven.
After pulling out to an early 4-1 lead, the Hawks allowed UMBC to gain its first lead with a five-point rally. They would extend that lead to 11-6 before the Hawks battled to tie the score at 16, the first of six ties, before the Retrievers pulled away late, using another five-point run. UMBC's late run was fueled by two kills from Ashley Oscars, an ace for Sabrina Hoeks and back-to-back Hartford errors.
In the second game, Hartford again held a slight lead in the beginning, extending it to as much as 10-6. UMBC wasn't going to go away, using a five-point run to tie the score at 12. The run saw four errors on the Hawks. The teams would tie the score three more times before the Retrievers pulled out to a 21-17 lead. UMBC would then score seven of the final eight points to take the 2-0 match advantage.
The Retrievers came out of the intermission to take an early 7-1 lead with Hartford battling to pull within three at 12-9. UMBC then used small runs of three and four points to open the game up, recording the match victory on a Hoeks kill and a Hawks error.
The Hawks will be back in action when they travel to Maine and New Hampshire for a pair of conference matches next weekend. Maine will begin the two-game Northern New England swing on Friday at 7:00 p.m. Hartford will then play New Hampshire on Sunday at 1:00 p.m.
